Nate Burleson, the Lions’ leading wide receiver, broke both bones in his forearm (the ulna and radius) in a single-car accident in Farmington Hills early Tuesday morning. But coach Jim Schwartz said the injury was neither career- nor season-ending.

"Any time you are in a highway accident there is potential for worse than broken bones," Schwartz said. "He was fortunate in this case, and we were fortunate that it wasn't more than that."

Schwartz said Burleson will have surgery Wednesday and there are no plans right now to put him on season-ending injured reserve.

"Nate will be back at some point and he will be a big contributor," Schwartz said.

Typically, broken ulna and radius bones can heal in six to eight weeks. But, as Schwartz pointed out, every case is different. New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has been trying to fully recover from a broken ulna bone for two years, though he had post-surgical complications.

"It's still way too early (to determine whether he will go on IR)," Schwartz said. "He hasn't even had surgery yet. It's way too soon."

In the meantime, Schwartz said the plan will be "next man up." Patrick Edwards, who missed last week with an ankle injury, could return this week and start at one of the outside receiver spots. Ryan Broyles, who caught three passes for 34 yards in his season debut Sunday, will likely start in the slot.

Schwartz also said tight ends Brandon Pettigrew, Tony Scheffler and Joseph Fauria will have to contribute more, as will running backs Reggie Bush and Joique Bell.

"It's a little setback for our team," Schwartz said. "Nate was playing well for us. He was our leading receiver and had his best day as a Lion a couple of days ago. But just like not having (running back) Reggie Bush last week, the next guy has to step up, and we are prepared to do that as a team."

Schwartz, though, said the team won’t go too long without Burleson's leadership presence.

"We won't miss that because he will be back pretty soon," he said. "It's not like last year (when Burleson broke his leg) when he was in hospital for an extended period of time. He'll be back quicker, be in our locker room and travel with the team. We'll be fine. We won't miss that presence, but we will miss him on the field."

According to Michigan State Police, Burleson was traveling westbound on I-696 near Drake Road at 2:25 a.m. Lt. Michael Shaw said Burleson was driving a 2009 GMC Yukon SUV and hit a center median wall after he was distracted by a whole pizza falling off his car seat.

Shaw said alcohol was not involved and no ticket was issued. Burleson was wearing a seatbelt and the airbags were deployed.

Burleson was transported by EMS to a nearby hospital. The team was informed of the accident Tuesday morning.

"Understandably, his spirits are low," said Schwartz, who spoke with Burleson on Tuesday morning. "He was down. He just came off his best performance as a Lion, his best since 2007. He was just getting into the swing of things and was a big part of our offense.

"The one thing about Nate, though, Nate is a really, really tough guy. He’s been through a lot in his career. He was our Ed Block Courage Award Winner for just other things that he has dealt with, season-ending injuries, the situation last year, and he has persevered through all of it and has continued to play at a high level. We certainly expect him to do the same here."

Only name that pops out is Da'Rick Rogers, but he was elevated to active roster last week by Indy and cut today. Could be cheap option off waivers, but being cut by Buffalo and Indy doesn't exactly make me excited about it.

Willis makes sense, but we're talking about the outside receiver position since Broyles is jumping into the slot. Willis is another slot receiver that isn't going to separate from the outside corners, which would make Durham the starting outside receiver until Edwards healed from his ankle. Could always bring back Shilens, but he couldn't beat out Durham in the preseason, so unlikely he does it after missing 3 weeks work.

They really need to bite the bullet and make a trade. Gordon and Britt are both questionable due to off the field issues, but tanking because of WR depth isn't an option two years in a row. Of course they could always line up Sheffler/Fauria in the other slot and run the two TE set more often. We'll see....

September 24th, 2013, 3:03 pm

njroar

QB Coach - Brian Callahan

Joined: September 25th, 2007, 3:20 amPosts: 3229

Re: Well... &$%^!@#!!!!! Burleson out with broken arm

Also hearing Lions are interested in Miles Austin, but you know he'd pull a hammy on the trip to Detroit.

If they are going PS then the obvious choice is Charles Johnson. Played well when he was healthy during the preseason and he went to Grand Valley State. Maybe they can hit again with another player from a small MI school.

September 24th, 2013, 3:11 pm

LionsAllDay

National Champion

Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:06 amPosts: 885

Re: Well... &$%^!@#!!!!! Burleson out with broken arm

I don't see why it's so bad that Rogers got cut. Four teams gave up on Joique Bell quickly, and look at him now. I think Rogers can have a few 1k yard seasons in the future if he gets his head far out of his @$$. He has Andre Johnson-type measurables and I read reports that Buffalo cut him because of bad route running and overall effort. Nothing sufficient, he's just being a jack@$$ and not trying.

I don't see why it's so bad that Rogers got cut. Four teams gave up on Joique Bell quickly, and look at him now. I think Rogers can have a few 1k yard seasons in the future if he gets his head far out of his @$$. He has Andre Johnson-type measurables and I read reports that Buffalo cut him because of bad route running and overall effort. Nothing sufficient, he's just being a jack@$$ and not trying.

So, Titus Young then?

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September 24th, 2013, 3:31 pm

njroar

QB Coach - Brian Callahan

Joined: September 25th, 2007, 3:20 amPosts: 3229

Re: Well... &$%^!@#!!!!! Burleson out with broken arm

He was, and he was released today. He was just active for the one game.

September 24th, 2013, 3:32 pm

LionsAllDay

National Champion

Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:06 amPosts: 885

Re: Well... &$%^!@#!!!!! Burleson out with broken arm

TheRealWags wrote:

Shotty wrote:

I don't see why it's so bad that Rogers got cut. Four teams gave up on Joique Bell quickly, and look at him now. I think Rogers can have a few 1k yard seasons in the future if he gets his head far out of his @$$. He has Andre Johnson-type measurables and I read reports that Buffalo cut him because of bad route running and overall effort. Nothing sufficient, he's just being a jack@$$ and not trying.

So, Titus Young then?

Yes, but 1. Even Titus had no impact on the locker room and 2. not as a 2nd round pick or any pick for that matter makes it worth the try.

I don't see why it's so bad that Rogers got cut. Four teams gave up on Joique Bell quickly, and look at him now. I think Rogers can have a few 1k yard seasons in the future if he gets his head far out of his @$$. He has Andre Johnson-type measurables and I read reports that Buffalo cut him because of bad route running and overall effort. Nothing sufficient, he's just being a jack@$$ and not trying.

Buffalo cut him because he couldn't even line up correctly in practice and needed others to put him in position. Comparing Rogers to Bell is such a huge insult to Bell and all the hard work he had to put in just to stay on teams practice squads. Also 4 teams didn't give up on Bell, he kept getting plucked from practice squads and just couldn't stay on an active roster until he made it to the Lions.

September 24th, 2013, 3:43 pm

LionsAllDay

National Champion

Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:06 amPosts: 885

Re: Well... &$%^!@#!!!!! Burleson out with broken arm

rao wrote:

Shotty wrote:

I don't see why it's so bad that Rogers got cut. Four teams gave up on Joique Bell quickly, and look at him now. I think Rogers can have a few 1k yard seasons in the future if he gets his head far out of his @$$. He has Andre Johnson-type measurables and I read reports that Buffalo cut him because of bad route running and overall effort. Nothing sufficient, he's just being a jack@$$ and not trying.

Buffalo cut him because he couldn't even line up correctly in practice and needed others to put him in position. Comparing Rogers to Bell is such a huge insult to Bell and all the hard work he had to put in just to stay on teams practice squads. Also 4 teams didn't give up on Bell, he kept getting plucked from practice squads and just couldn't stay on an active roster until he made it to the Lions.

I didn't read into that, thanks for explaining. From what I read he just couldn't get open, I had no idea he couldn't line up... forget him then.